Kevin Spinale, S.J., offers his initial thoughts on John Howard Griffin's ‘Black Like Me,’ the latest selection of the Catholic Book Club.

Among the many clichés operative in Covid-time (“in these uncertain times,” “the new normal”), there is the sturdy cliché, “now more than ever.” Well, I think we need comedy now more than ever.

Another look at the story of Mary Magdalene and interpretations of her throughout history.

Mary Magdalene’s actual history, as Margaret Arnold tells us, is much richer than we think. The tradition’s appropriation of Mary Magdalene is much more intricate and complex—as the saint herself is complex.

The new selection of the Catholic Book Club is a collection of poems about the saints.

Kevin Spinale, S.J., the moderator of the Catholic Book Club, led discussions of two very different books this spring and summer. The first, 'Catholic Modern,' by James Chappel, is a heady look at how the church remade itself at a time of social and political upheaval. The second, 'Say Nothing,' by Patrick Radden Keefe, is a gripping account of some of the key players in the period in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.